Cooking Classes: Bringing Home the flavors of your vacation

We all like to bring home souvenirs from the places we visit--bottles of wine from Bordeaux, emeralds from Rio, cutting-edge electronics from Tokyo. As a food-lover, my favorite souvenirs are foodstuffs from my travels. Unfortunately, many edibles from abroad aren't welcome when you return to your home country.

One solution for enjoying vacation foods at home is to take a cooking class when you're traveling. This way, you can learn first-hand how to prepare the foods you enjoyed on vacation and then replicate them in your own kitchen. In addition, you see a different side of the culture, as you'll be stepping into a private home or into a restaurant kitchen.

Follow these tips to find and take a cooking class:

*Know what you're looking for. Before you begin looking for classes, have an idea of what skills and foods you'd like to learn. For example, do you want to learn to make a full meal, or do you want to learn dishes that don't necessarily go together? Do you want to learn about sweet or savory foods? Do you want to take a trip to the market as part of the class, or would you prefer to have all the ingredients awaiting you in class? Do you want to try your skills in class or simply observe and taste? By knowing what you want to learn, you can target your search for classes based on preferences.

*Research, research, research. You'll get the most benefit from a class if you can research what several classes have to offer, and make a decision from an array of options. I find that a quick search using the keywords "Cooking Class" and the city you're visiting will find 10-12 viable options. Click on the links to read class descriptions. Email specific questions. This way, you can understand whether a class offers what you'd like to learn in the manner you'd like to learn it.

*Use local recommendations. The best option is to ask a friend or colleague in the area you'll visit to make recommendations on cooking classes that he or someone he knows has taken. Alternately, send out an inquiry to your network to see if one of your friends (or friends of friends) has taken a cooking class in your target city. I've found with "fun" searches like this, people are excited to connect and share their personal experiences.

If you're not able to find a personal connection to someone who's taken a local cooking class, find the local culinary school. Even though these schools offer professional instruction as their main curriculum, many also offer cooking classes aimed at home cooks. You can find lists of US and international culinary institutions at http://www.culinaryschools.org/.

Some other places to find cooking classes include the websites of well-know chefs and popular restaurants from the region, travel agents and hotel concierges. Be sure to investigate recommendations from the latter two, however. Some travel agents and concierges receive compensation for recommendations, so you may not be getting unbiased advice.

*Arrange for your class before you leave home. Many popular cooking classes are booked months before. To avoid the disappointment of a sold-out class, book classes in advance. Also, this keeps you from spending valuable vacation time searching for a cooking class.

*Investigate payment policies. Some cooking classes are offered by corporations and schools that accept all forms of payment. If you are taking a class in a private home, or in a small restaurant, you're expected to pay for classes in cash. When paying in cash, know the total cost upfront and bring exact change. Also investigate whether it's customary to tip. In the US, a 10-15% cash tip is appreciated by private instructors. In foreign countries, using restaurant tipping guidelines as a gauge for how much to tip a private instructor abroad. For classes that take place in professional cooking schools, tipping is not expected, and you may find yourself in an awkward situation if you hand the instructor cash. Instead, if you feel you had exceptional instruction, contact the school and give your feedback.

*Know the language in which you'll receive instruction, or bring a translator. Nothing hampers a learning experience like a language barrier. I took two cooking classes in India. The first was conducted in English, and I understood how to prepare each dish, plus was able to ask questions. Even still, some ingredients were lost in translation, and I had to find out what I was eating after the class. My second class was conducted in Hindi, which I do not speak. I enlisted an Indian friend to join me. She was able to translate between the instructor and me, plus I had a companion in class. Both classes were exceptional, but I can see where I would have gotten a lot less information from the second class if I attended alone.

*Communicate to the instructor about allergies, dietary restrictions and food preferences. When you book your class, make sure the school or instructor knows about any foods you will not eat. This way, the instructor can steer clear of such ingredients, or offer substitutions.

*Bring a way to take notes and a camera. When you take a cooking class, you could receive anything from a detailed recipe book, that includes shopping lists, pictures of finished dishes, nutritional information and timing guides, to nothing at all. For that reason, it's great to have a notepad and pen, so you can write down exactly how a recipe was created. Even when you receive printed recipes, you can augment them with margin notes. Often an instructor will mention tips that don't make it into the book--and you'll have an effective way of capturing them.

I find a camera indispensable in a cooking class. It goes back to my culinary school days of having to submit a portfolio--with pictures--for every class. Now, I find that it's the perfect way to see what the exact sear of a steak should be, how a sauce looks in-process (as opposed to just the finished dish), and which ingredients go into a recipe. Instructors have been happy to stop momentarily so I can snap photos, and I've found I refer to those photos frequently when replicating a dish at home. I've even toyed with the idea of bringing my husband (who takes pictures as a hobby) to a class so that he can take pictures while I take notes.

*Know the etiquette as it relates to your cooking class and the culture of the city you're in. Are you allowed to bring alcohol to drink with the meal? Are questions welcomed as you're cooking or should you wait until the food is served? Are you expected to eat with your hands or will silverware be provided? The more you know about the culture you're in, the better-prepared you'll be to learn in class. I was in for a big surprise when asked to remove my shoes for a cooking class in India. In cooking classes I'd taken elsewhere, shoes were essential--kitchens are dangerous places and you need to protect your feet. However, the etiquette of removing your shoes in an Asian household superseded the need for shoes in a kitchen. So I took off my shoes and thanked my lucky stars I wore socks.

*Get the instructor's contact information. This way, you can follow up with questions you have after the class. You can also refer friends, family and fellow PoshPort readers to great classes you've taken.

And here's a quick recipe from a cooking class I took in Pune, India.

Finished Paneer Masala

Paneer

Paneer is homemade fresh cheese. In vegetarian homes, paneer is a great source of protein, and it's often served with cooked vegetables, such as peas or spinach. I like to put it on naan (Indian flatbread) or on a sandwich with store-bought chutney. You may buy paneer in India grocery stores, but the one you make at home is fresher-tasting.

Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1-2 teaspoons distilled vinegar

Special equipment
Cheesecloth

Method
Place milk in a medium saucepan on the stove and bring to a boil. Immediately turn off heat so milk doesn't boil over.

Stir in 1 teaspoon of vinegar and watch to see whether curds form (the milk will look chunky and spoiled--this is the curd separating from the whey). Add more vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon at a time until curds form.

Drain milk through a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Gather the cheesecloth together to wrap the curds and place a kitchen weight (I like to use a can of tuna, or a half pound of dried beans) on top of the curds.

Allow to drain two hours. Unwrap and enjoy! Paneer keeps 3-4 days in your refrigerator when tightly-wrapped.

Making Paneer

Paneer ready to strain

Finished Paneer

by Jill Houk